Sarah Taylor: 'I love doing things we are not supposed to do, so if that’s a trailblazer then yes'

Sussex and England star batsman Sarah Taylor has a history of achieving ‘firsts’.

The 28-year-old was the first women inducted into Legends Lane at the 1st Central County Cricket Ground at Hove as well as being first woman to play men's grade cricket in Australia.

The wicketkeeper is also the first woman ever to play in the Darton first XI and was the youngest woman cricketer to score 1000 runs in One Day Internationals in 2008.

But does she see herself as a trailblazer in the sport?

Taylor told us: “I love doing things we are not supposed to do so if that’s a trailblazer then yes. “When someone tells me I can’t do something I awkwardly try out to do it.

“To be the first to play the men’s game was a push to see where I was at, to test my cricket and test my knowledge of the game in what I had learnt over the years. That was a massive learning curve and I walked away from that knowing exactly what I need to work on.

“In regards as to what happened in that mens game, it’s benefitted me no end.

“I would like to say I’m a bit of a trailblazer.

“You want to inspire a generation and leave a legacy behind. The fact that I have that in Legends Lane, I probably don’t reflect on that enough, I do forget that it’s there.

“My sister works for a company that sponsor the Hove ground and their clubhouse is right next to Legends Lane and she alway sends me picture saying ‘still proud’. That’s there for life now and I forget that.”

Taylor may have played mens cricket at a high standard, but can she see a future where men and women play together at the highest standard.

She said: “It’s weird a few years ago you never knew where womens cricket was going to go so you almost saw a random cricketer that would spike out and actually say ‘well I could probably be good enough for mens cricket if I worked hard and trained well’.

“Whereas now the way womens cricket is going I feel like the standard is getting so high, there’s no ceiling, which is exciting. On it’s own you don’t know how far it can go.

“I don’t feel now it needs the mens game but you never know. If someone said, ‘I am not going to play womens cricket I am just going to concentrate to try and play mens cricket’ - I would love to see a women pushing in grade cricket and becoming one of the top performers. That would be incredible. In my lifetime it might happen.”

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